Benelli Rifles Meridian MS

Local resource for Benelli rifles in Meridian. Includes detailed information on local businesses that provide access to Benelli rifle shotguns, Benelli pistol grip defense rifles, and hunting rifles, as well as reviews of Benelli rifles and other information.

Benelli MR1 Review: An Italian Coyote Rifle

We live in a global economy. My television was made in China, my new camo jacket in the Philippines, my truck was designed in Japan but built in Tennessee and now I have a coyote rifle from Italy. Of course, Italian firearms aren't anything new, some of the finest guns made originate from the land that gave us spaghetti. The US Marine's combat shotgun for more than a decade has been the semi-auto Benelli M4 (military name - M1014). Its reputation has been built on their ultra-reliable ARGO (Auto Regulating Gas Operated) system. That same gas system has now been adapted into a semi-auto rifle in 223 Remington and I've been successfully hunting coyotes with one. For this review, we're going to take a look at the Benelli MR1 rifle.

The rifle is designated as the MR1 and when mine arrived I was prepared to follow my normal routine of taking it apart to see how it works. That wasn't necessary with the MR1 as it arrives already field stripped. The assembly manual is well illustrated and printed in seven languages, so most people should have no problem putting it all together. Be warned, however, it is far more complicated than your bolt action rifle and if taking the bolt in and out of your deer rifle is a challenge for you, this may not be your gun.

With the Benelli MR1 assembled I recorded some vital statistics. These are my measurements, not factory numbers: weight with no scope and empty magazine - 8 lbs 2 oz; overall length - 41.5 inches; barrel length - 20.12 inches; length of pull - 14 inches; trigger pull - 5.5 lbs; rifling - 6 grooves with a 1 in 9 inch right hand twist. I also checked the barrel's interior with a bore scope and found a beautifully finished barrel with no tool marks and a cleanly cut chamber, throat and crown.

The rifle I received came with a five shot magazine patterned after the universal AR-15 design, which means most such magazines should fit. I tried three different brands, all with metal bodies, and all worked fine. Once you hit the appropriate button, the magazines drop free easily, but the rifle design is such that you won't be dropping magazines with your trigger hand unless you completely break the firing grip. Instead, the rifle seems designed to drop magazines with the thumb of the non-firing hand, while simultaneously catching them. This release is ambidextrous as is the bolt hold-open latch.

The MR1 comes with a competent set of iron sights that are probably best labelled as back-up sights. This is reinforced by the presence of an optical sight mounting rail along the top of the receiver. Considering I needed to do some accuracy testing with the rifle and wanted to take it hunting, I didn't spend much time with the iron sights, but moved straight to mounting a scope. The only snag in that plan was removal of the rear sight, which is held in place with two T-15 screws that proved to be so solid I broke three Torx drivers trying to get them out, with no success. Neither moderate amounts of heat nor impa...